Draco was headed back to his dormitory after a midnight stroll when he heard what sounded like crying. He rolled his eyes. 'It's probably just some girl crying over her latest break-up. She'll be fine tomorrow.' The blonde sixth year thought.

However his curiosity got the better of him and he decided to see who was crying.

Draco followed the sound to an alcove hidden behind a tapestry.

In the dim light he could barely make out a form huddled in a corner. The young Malfoy pulled out his wand and lit it. He was surprised, to say the least, at whom he was looking at.

"Potter?" Draco asked curiously.

"Leave me alone." The smaller boy mumbled.

Draco remained firmly in place. What kind of heartless bastard would he be if he left him there to be found by Filch or Snape?

"No." He stated.

The blonde had been hoping to get a rise out of the Gryffindor. He was again surprised when Harry just sat there and continued to cry.

With a huff and a roll of his eyes, Draco strode over to him and grabbed his bicep.

"Come on Potter." He said as he pulled Harry up.

The dark-haired boy hissed in pain and wrenched his arm out of the other's grip before he slide back to the floor, crying with renewed vigor.

"Merlin, there's actually something wrong with you." Draco said in slight shock.

"Leave me alone!" Harry said in a hoarse voice.

"I can't do that." Draco said as he sat down next to the crying boy.

"Why not? You haven't kicked me when I'm down yet?" Harry spat at him.

"Pott— Harry, contrary to what you might think, I'm not that much of a bastard." The blonde said as gently as he could.

Harry didn't respond to that. The two of them sat in silence for a few minutes as Draco tried to come up with something to say that wouldn't piss the other off.

Finally he asked, "Why did it hurt you when I tried to pull you up?"

"It didn't." Harry replied without looking at him.

"Potter you're a terrible liar and if you won't tell me, I'll find out for myself." Draco said as he slid closer to the golden boy.

Harry watched him with trepidation and started shaking, almost violently.

The blonde stopped moving and looked at him with a questioning eye. The other said nothing though. If the

When Draco's fingers touched Harry's arm, the dark-haired boy flinched and tried to move away but he was stuck against the wall.

Draco grabbed the edge of Harry's almost elbow length sleeve and slid it up to his shoulder. A small gasp escaped his lips. An angry, purple, handed shaped bruise adorned Harry's bicep.

He quickly reached for the other sleeve and saw a matching bruise there as well. He then placed his hands gently over the marks and Draco saw that the person's hands that caused them, were even bigger than his.

"Harry, who did this?" He asked quietly.

"No one." Said boy replied. "I did it to myself."

"There's no way you could've done these. You're hands are even smaller than mine." Draco said. "Are there more?"

Harry put his head in his hands and nodded as more tears started streaming down his cheeks.

Once the crying subsided, Harry pulled the hem of his shirt up to his neck, revealing many, many more bruises. Some of them fresh and many others in different stages of healing.

Several questions ran through Draco's mind. He knew he had to ask the right one or else Harry would just shut down.

"How long has this been happening?" He chose to ask.

"Over two years now." Harry replied.

"When did it start exactly?" Draco asked next.

"A few days after my name came out of the goblet of fire." The smaller of the two said quietly.

Harry was frustrated. No one believed him when he said he didn't put his name in the goblet, not even his best friend.

He wanted to talk to Ron and convince him that he didn't do it but if he was going to be stubborn, then so was Harry.

After a few days of having no one to talk to, Harry was pulled into an empty classroom as he headed to lunch. He saw red hair and for a brief moment thought he and Ron were going to work things out. Until a hand connected with the side of his face.

"Ron! What the hell?" Harry yelled.

"I'm so sick of Harry bloody Potter: Savior of the wizarding world, getting everything he wants. It's not like you need more publicity. Everyone already knows your name." Ron shouted in Harry's face.

"I didn't put my name in the goblet." Harry said for what felt like the millionth time.

A fist then hit him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. "Don't lie to me." He screamed.

"I'm not lying." Harry said as best as he could.

Ron punched him again, this time in the chest, forcing Harry to his knees.

"I thought being best friends with Harry Potter would be a good thing. I thought that I'd have lots of girls all over me because I was your best friend. I even thought I'd popular. But no because everyone who loves you is insignificant and all the important people hate you!" Ron yelled as he paced in front of Harry, who was struggling for breath.

"I don—"

SMACK!

"Shut! Up!" Ron shrieked. "I don't want to hear anything you have to say."

Harry put a hand on his now stinging cheek. He couldn't believe what was happening.

"Ron I'm sorry." Harry started but was cut off by a hand on his throat.

"I! Said! Shut! Up!" The red head yelled and accentuated each word with a fist to Harry's torso. Ron finally calmed down.

His grip on Harry's throat loosened and then tightened again.

"If you tell anyone about this, I will kill you." Ron said in Harry's ear. Then he left Harry alone to process what just occurred.

"Son of a bitch!" Draco exclaimed when Harry finished speaking. "Some best friend he turned out to be. A Slytherin wouldn't do that to their best friend."

Harry's eyes suddenly widened as he realized Ron was going to kill him if he found out he told Draco Malfoy of all people.

"You can't tell anyone about this." He said frantically.

"Harry, you can't just let him keep doing this to you. You need to tell Dumbledore and if you won't, I will." The blonde said as he stood up. "Come on. I'm going to take you to the hospital wing."

Harry took the hand Draco extended to him and carefully pulled himself off the floor. He could feel most of his body protest against the movement.

As the dark haired boy started moving forward, the hand still holding his tighten and stopped him.

"What's that?" Draco asked, gesturing to a dark spot on the floor. He moved his wand closer until he could clearly see that it was a pool of blood. He then stepped around Harry and saw that the bottom of his night shirt was also covered in blood.

"You're bleeding."

"No I'm not." Harry said weakly and tried to move away from the bigger boy.

Before Harry could move much, Draco lifted the back of his shirt and could clearly see where the blood was coming from, but there was more than just blood. There was also dried semen.

Draco thought he was going to be sick. How could anyone do that, let alone to their best friend?

"Harry, he raped you." The other stated.

For the third time since Draco found him, Harry burst into tears. This time though, he collapsed onto the other and cried for several minutes.
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Tentatively and awkwardly, Draco wrapped Harry in an embrace, lowered them both to the floor, and allowed him to cry.

Once Harry's crying turned to sniffling and hiccoughing, Draco asked, "Would you like to talk about it?"

"No." Harry sobbed. "He's my best friend. He doesn't mean to hurt me. He just likes it rough and goes a little overboard."

Draco pulled Harry away from him and looked him in the eye. "How can you say that weasel is your best friend? He beats you Harry and worse! You need to tell someone. He deserves to be locked up hi jñ Azkaban."

Harry looked away from the piercing silver eyes. "I know." He whispered as a few more tears trickled onto his cheeks.

The blonde pulled the smaller boy back to him and held him reassuringly. "Tell me what happened." He said gently.

"Ok"